Hey guys, I have been working on my model (Flanker B) & I am just going to start doing the upper body as my airbrush arrives today. I am pretty worried about running out of paint.
This is the model, its a 1:48 scale & I am pretty sure that you guys know the size of the Flanker.

There are basically 3 colors, 2 shades of blue & a gray. I have all the colors in those Humbrol 14ml cans, will one of those (+water/thinner) for each color be enough for the entire upper body? I will be using an airbrush to paint.
Cheers guys & thanks in advance for any help,
WD.

An airbrush covers an area with far less paint than a regular brush. You should have plenty.

So will 1 can of paint for each of the colors (+water/thinner) be adequate?

That should do it, but if in doubt, and if you have to travel any significant distance or payhigh shipping costs, you might want to get some extra.

I do have extra but I want to save it up for my next model. The Su-27UB Flanker.

I can paint an entire truck twice with about half of one of those Humbrol tins but as you have extrea tins there why worry about running out on this one.

It depends on the paint quantity when you paint your first Flanker (1 coat, 2 coats) but I think that you can save the paint in 3 tinlets for your 2nd Flanker if you will paint this Flanker's scheme as the first. Be careful! the Humbrol is an enamel paint, you must use the paint thinner - not WATER.

I do have the thinner. I will use it.
I read a small write up about applying the thinner. It says that you should put some thinner & then dip a toothpick into the paint & see if the paint drips off it. Keep applying the thinner till the paint drips off the toothpick, then it is ready to be sprayed.

Btw my airbrush & aircompressor arrived yesterday, but I have not used it yet because I want to go & pick up a bottle of acetone (nail polish remover) to clean it after use. I am just reading some write ups about airbrush maintenance first before I start using it.

1 question - what should I use to clean it out? paint thinner, acetone or spirit (alcohol)?

I spray clean thinner through the airbrush into a rag using a large eye dropper to get it right into the color cup opening. While I'm doing this, I'm soaking the color cup in thinner. When the thinner comes through clear, it's ready for the next color. I use a pipe cleaner for the neck of the color cup and facial tissue for the inside.
Repeat this between each color.
At the end of the session , I repeat and remove the needle and clean that with facial tissue as well as the nozzle parts before reassembling and storing it for the next session.
If you can, run a pipe cl;eaner down the opening for the needle, too, as paint may back up.
Handle the needle very carefully. If the tip gets bent, it's pretty much toast.

OK thanks Al.

WD! I was just curious as to what you decided to get for airbrush and compressor! You might have told elsewhere, but I thought it would be interesting to see how it all turned out...

One piece of advise from me is to practise your first airbrushing on paper, doing lines, coverage, different distances, different ratios of thinning and then mixing colours and cleaning. Leave the model for the first few tries. Airbrushing is quite simple after a few goes, but I would definately not recommend attemptig a model straight away. Good luck with it!

I will do a few practice rounds first, before I move on to the Flanker.

I got the Tamiya basic air compressor with airbrush. I had no choice, I had to be very specific with my mom as she got it for me from Bangkok when she was on holiday there. Tamiya is all over the place over there & I wanted a combo set.